[Anchor]

Former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial on charges of insurrection as the ringleader, repeated his claim during his closing statement in the appellate trial that the emergency martial law was justified. The court announced that it will deliver the verdict for the second trial on January 26 next year.

Reporter Bae Seong-jae has the details.

[Reporter]

Former President Yoon took the floor yesterday (Nov. 5) as the last of the eight defendants to deliver his closing statement.

Wearing glasses, Yoon read from a 26-page prepared manuscript for one hour and 20 minutes.

Yoon argued that the December 3 emergency martial law was a legitimate exercise of presidential authority within the framework of the Constitution, aimed at rectifying the outrageous behavior of the opposition party.

He also stated that he had never mobilized the military and police to block the National Assembly's resolution demanding the lifting of martial law.

This was a reiteration of the arguments that were rejected in both the impeachment trial and the first trial of his insurrection ringleader case.

Consequently, he requested an acquittal in accordance with the law and principles.

[Bae Bo-yun / Defense Counsel for Former President Yoon Suk Yeol: Regarding this (the power to declare martial law), our precedents dictate that it is the president's inherent authority and independent judgment right, so....]

Former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and former Defense Intelligence Command Chief Noh Sang-won, who delivered their closing statements earlier, also entirely denied the insurrection charges.

Last month on October 29, the special counsel demanded the death penalty for Yoon in the appellate trial, just as in the first trial, stating that he had committed "the highest level of treason."

In February, the first-instance court sentenced former President Yoon to life imprisonment and former Minister Kim to 30 years in prison.

The court announced that it will hand down the appellate ruling on former President Yoon's charges, including insurrection as the ringleader, at 2:30 PM on January 26 next year.

(Camera Reporter: Yang Hyun-chul, Video Editing: Lee So-young)